There's really three buckets of what people call sustainable aviation fuel, saff. People disagree on which of these we should be pursuing one of them is business as usual, food based bo fuels. The second bucket is waste oils and fats - things like used cooking oil after frying french fries or tallow the parts of cow that we don't like to eat. Fred: "We can either do this fast, or we can do it well"
For those of us who love to travel, climate guilt weighs heavily. Civil aviation accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that number is going up. But while electrifying cars and trucks is already well underway, flying planes on anything other than liquid fuels remains devilishly difficult. Despite that difficulty, there are options. Sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, hold the most promise, as they can theoretically drop right into existing engines and infrastructure. Beyond that, a number of startups are tinkering with electric battery-powered aircraft, as well as hydrogen-powered electric planes. But how sustainable are these options, and are they really ready for prime time?
Guests:
Fred Ghatala, Director of Carbon & Sustainability, Advanced Biofuels Canada
Stephanie Searle, Fuels Program Director, ICCT
Scott Cary, Project Manager, NREL
Christina Beckman, Co-creator, Tomorrow’s Air; Vice President, Adventure Travel Trade Association
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